DJI Knows Exactly What It's Doing

[mavic3usa]

The Mavic 3 Pro was just a camera change on a design released in November 2021. Changing the drone and controllers to use a new and incompatible version of Occusync would have been much more involved than swapping cameras.

^Good glad you agree with me. Since I had the Mavic 3 and now have the Mavic 3 Pro, I already know this.

^I think you meant to reply back to umanbean who suggested something about "finalized development" of the Mavic 3 Pro which ultimately took place the same time development for the Mavic 3 was finalized. Makes zero sense to consider trying to install O4 into the Mavic 3 Pro regardless the timeline. I agree there are exception but the Mavic 3 doesn't sound like one of them.

^^Where umabean and others keep going off the rails is when the discussion moves into some weird obsession about closely connecting technology to some sort of sales strategy or marketing effort in an attempt to sell more drones. It simply doesn't happen that way. It is likely during the roadmap planning, the drones are lined up with the tech and implemented where it makes sense but to there is no grand strategy to withhold or release the tech in an effort to promote or coordinate the sales of a particular model. The whole idea of an "upgrade allure" is overrated and one drone model over another is not rated based on one particular feature like waypoints. For example, withholding waypoints in the Mini trying to force the ordinary consumer to buy the Air because it *does* have waypoints is absurd. Instead waypoints in the mini is probably based on some technical aspect such as OA sensors or coding, memory, timing, etc. DJI has already sold a million Air 3 drones to Amazon and half a million to Best Buy and others, they're not trying to micro-manage sales by way of features, that's 1980s and amateurish. The Air 3 is never going to be "crippled" by anything DJI does and at the right price will sell a ton regardless of the final feature set and what is in other drones. By the same token, holding a feature back and in the future adding that feature with a maintenance release isn't done to increase the sales, that's ridiculous. There's nobody doing that.

I know you didn't say these things but didn't want to go back and split up my paragraph, sorry about that. But I see it so often and the poster complains the thinking doesn't make sense and the reason why is....because it isn't true.

 

[umanbean]

^^Where umabean and others keep going off the rails is when the discussion moves into some weird obsession about closely connecting technology to some sort of sales strategy or marketing effort in an attempt to sell more drones. It simply doesn't happen that way.

I take that to mean you think that there is no communication between Marketing, Administration, and R&D during the development cycle. I think there is an overall strategy, and I think some of that strategy has to do with maximizing sales.

You say potahto I say potato. C'est la vie

Edit: sorry, but I had no idea the only improvement of the 3 Pro was the camera

 

[mavic3usa]

I take that to mean you think that there is no communication between Marketing, Administration, and R&D during the development cycle. I think there is an overall strategy, and I think some of that strategy has to do with maximizing sales.

You say potahto I say potato. C'est la vie

I believe there is communication. Just not the type and the way you think there might be or the extent to which it is often characterized these days. Yes there are exceptions and for sure, at the grand strategy or high level you have collaboration from all departments but much of this is tactical and have little to no meaningful impact on day to day sales. My comments have tried to address it where nefarious conclusion where drawn when it's obviously not the case. And there have been lots of them, it's almost like some people actually believe it's a thing. In the end, you are correct, everyone should and will continue to express their thoughts; no problem there.

 

[Chris Mitchell]

So how it it I have the latest Mavic 3 Pro offering and the latest Air 3 offering yet I still don't have a complete drone? I'm sure DJI plans it this way.

I've been using both drones for a bit now and he's my conclusion. Mavic 3 Image Quality is better then Air3 especially at night. However Air 3 has better range and flight time. So if I want the best image quality I suffer with range and if I want the best range I suffer with image. How do I get a Mavic 3 Pro with Air 3 Range? Or an Air 3 with Mavic 3 camera and sensor?

Example: Want to do a night hyperlapse. Best bird for this is the 3 Pro in my opinion for the night footage. However, the Air 3 will get much futher down the line because of O4. Now you have a dilemma right? The 3Pro came out very close to the air 3. How come they couldn't have put O4 in the Mavic 3 Pro? Because they constantly want you buying drones chasing the specs. If they give you the perfect drone you'll stop buying thus we will never get the perfect drone.

The answer is actually quite simple. Compromise. Airplanes are full of compromises, cameras are, drones are, everything is. There is no such thing as the perfect drone.

 

[BetterBizWorks]

The answer is actually quite simple. Compromise. Airplanes are full of compromises, cameras are, drones are, everything is. There is no such thing as the perfect drone.

You are right, but it's not because it's not technologically possible. Cameras come a lot closer to perfection. You just have to pay for it. There are so many manufacturers of cameras that you can get a great sensor with excellent lenses while not giving up features. There are caveats, but cameras don't have to fight weight issues. I understand that. But many features like zoom, sensor size and technical features can be combined. Why can't we get a good cinematic drone that also does RTK? Changeable payloads aren't unheard of. I understand they want the average enthusiast to own 5 drones, but it is crazy.

 

[DanJ]

I was going to buy a Mavic 3 Pro to replace my Air 2S but it seems like anything new will now have O4.
So until DJI comes up with a new Mavic 3 with O4 the Air 2S is good enough for me.
Its almost guaranteed that the next Mavic 3 ??? has O4. There doesn't seem to be any backwards compatibility. Yet.

 

[mavic3usa]

I was going to buy a Mavic 3 Pro to replace my Air 2S but it seems like anything new will now have O4.
So until DJI comes up with a new Mavic 3 with O4 the Air 2S is good enough for me.
Its almost guaranteed that the next Mavic 3 ??? has O4. There doesn't seem to be any backwards compatibility. Yet.

Yeah for sure the new Mavic (Mavic 4?) will have O4 or greater.

 

[blackbirdsr72]

I was going to buy a Mavic 3 Pro to replace my Air 2S but it seems like anything new will now have O4.
So until DJI comes up with a new Mavic 3 with O4 the Air 2S is good enough for me.
Its almost guaranteed that the next Mavic 3 ??? has O4. There doesn't seem to be any backwards compatibility. Yet.

Exactly on the same page.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Air 3 is Way Better then the 3 Pro. When I Say range, I mean keeping the signal. I fly around Philadelphia and there are massive amounts of issues out there. The air 3 can fly areas the Mavic 3 Loses signal and beyond. So It's not how far but how well it retains a signal. Even around building and over trees etc.

What is your understanding of the various sources of the "massive amounts" of urban "issues" that you are encountering?

Despite the fact that it isn't a distance issue, can you please provide the actual distance at which these signal losses are occurring on the Mavic 3 Pro?

You also haven't confirmed whether there is, in fact, clear line of sight for the control signals during your flights where this is occurring. Is there clear LOS?

If not, how badly are the LOS signals being blocked by intervening objects?

Do you believe the main cause of the Mavic 3 Signal signal instability and loss is the proximity to competing radio signals, emanating from the buildings?

Are you flying very low above, or in between occupied buildings that are radiating competing wifi signals?

Does flying somewhat higher (and therefore farther away from the ground wifi) improve the Mavic 3 Pro signal stability?